Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - SHOWDOWN: Virginia Tech and Vanderbilt CLASH in Epic QB BATTLE | Can Pavia OUTSHINE Drones?
Episode Date: September 4, 2025VANDERBILT vs VIRGINIA TECH: Quarterback Showdown and Lane Stadium's Electric AtmosphereWill Diego Pavia's veteran leadership outshine Kyron Drones' raw talent in this pivotal non-conference clash? Co...rey Burton and Alex Donno break down the Commodores' visit to Blacksburg, analyzing key matchups and potential game-changers. The hosts explore Virginia Tech's towering receivers, Vanderbilt's revamped offensive line, and the impact of Lane Stadium's legendary "Enter Sandman" tradition. With both teams hungry for a statement win, this matchup promises high stakes and intense action. Tune in for expert predictions and insider perspectives on this must-watch college football showdown.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!UpsideSimply download the free Upside app in the App Store or Google Play and use the promo code FOOTBALL to get an extra 25 cents back per gallon on your first fill up. Start earning cash at the pump, today! Click Here: https://getupside.onelink.me/zlLr?af_xp=custom&pid=barrington&c=barrington_lockedon25&deep_link_value=promo&deep_link_sub1=lockedon25&af_dp=upsideapp%3A%2F%2FThe Game CapGrab your team’s classic bar or retro circle designed hat and use code LOCKEDON for an exclusive discount. Head to Because legends wear The Game. Head to thegamecaps.comDoorDashWith DoorDash Streaks, you save every Saturday you order — stack it up all season and you could save up to $250. Order this Saturday. Keep the streak alive. Fuel your gameday — only with DoorDash. Terms apply. Promo period through 11/18.MazdaIt’s the small details that make the big plays. And just like there’s more to every player, there’s more to a Mazda vehicle. Mazda. Move and Be Moved. Rugiet150,000 men have made the switch →https://Rugiet.com/LOCKEDONCOLLEGEUse code LOCKEDONNFL to get 15% off your order!SupplyHouseJoin the free TradeMaster program today and score serious perks like priority shipping, lower prices, and a dedicated support line. Visit https://www.supplyhouse.com/apply-for-trademasterto sign up for free and use promo code SHCOLLEGE5 for 5% off your first order. GametimeToday's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE at www.monarchmoney.com/lockedoncollege for 50% off your first year.FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Football season is around the corner, visit the FanDuel App today and start planning your futures bets now.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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Diego Pavia, Kairn drones, round two in Blacksburg.
Here we go.
You are Locked on College Crossover, part of the Locked On Podcast Network.
Your team every day.
Hey, what's up, everybody?
It is a Locked on college crossover, Locked on Vandy, Locked on SEC.
I'm Corey Burton, your host from Locked on Vandy.
Joining me is the man, the myth, the legend, Alex Dono, host of Locked on ACC, and Locked on
so you can check them out in both of those places.
Alex, what's good, man?
I'm doing well.
And, you know, it's good to be on with you talking Virginia Tech because me and Virginia Tech go way back.
Being a longtime Miami guy, I used to watch Virginia Tech in the Big East, you know, the yearly matchups there with Miami, you know, during the glory days of Frank Beamer.
And, of course, been watching Virginia Tech in the ACC for many years.
It's certainly not the same Virginia Tech.
used to watch, but they do have some talent, Corey.
Yeah, absolutely.
And I would think you would probably think I'm crazy and most people would
probably think I'm crazy if I told you that sometime in the future, that a Virginia
Tech Vanderbilt matchup would be epic.
And it kind of is.
And I think it's going to be one of those fun matchups because of what you have at the
quarterback position.
And before we do that, though, this episode is brought to you by Mazda, just like there's
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dedication, more attention to detail. There's more to a Mazda vehicle. Stay tuned later in the
episode for highlights in this week's moving the game forward. Mazda move or B move. So yeah,
like I said, thanks for making us your first listen. Lockdown ACC, locked on Cains for Alex,
locked on Vandy for me. If you want to check out more of our content, those are the places to
go. But this quarterback battle, and we're going to get into how the defenses are going to respond
to these things, but we're going to talk about just the quarterbacks themselves and the weapons
have to support him, things like that.
Diego Pavia, we know what he is.
We know that he is a media superstar.
He's highly confident.
He's got all the intangibles.
But I want to know more about Kairn drones here.
I want to know, and watching him in the South Carolina game,
it left me kind of on a roller coaster because he would make some great throws.
Then he'd make some not so great throws.
And then also some boneheaded decisions.
So like I feel like to me, when I watch him, I feel like I'm just nervous watching.
him try to make decisions back there in the pocket.
What is it about Kairn Drones that really drives this team?
What is it about Kyrin Jones?
What are we going to expect in their home opener?
Well, what you described is the Kairn Drones experience.
He's one of the most frustrating quarterbacks to watch because I know the talent is there.
And this is a guy who has the same private quarterbacks coach with Cam Ward, who's his cousin
and Shador Sanders.
and he goes toe to toe with those guys in Texas and in Florida when they do their private training sessions.
Kairn Drones has a rocket of an arm.
Like physically, there's not a throw that he can't make.
Emphasis on the word physically.
And Drones also has really good scrambling capabilities.
And that's not just to run the football.
He can do that.
But the way he can extend plays in the pocket, get out of the pocket, give time for his receivers to get downfield.
something I would always be concerned going into a matchup against
Kairn Drones because if you get him on his best night,
drones is capable of making jaw-dropping plays.
And I'll talk more about his receivers in a second because he's got some really good ones.
But you also describe the downsides.
The reason why Drones has been so frustrating to cover, you know,
but now his third year as the starter at Virginia Tech is his decision-making,
I think sometimes he gets so aggressive.
Like he threw two interceptions against South Carolina.
The first of those I thought was especially appalling.
Basically threw it into triple coverage in the end zone.
You know, they were driving towards the red zone so that, you know,
derailed a great drive.
Ironically, they ended up getting a safety.
Their defense, a couple plays later.
So they did get some points out of it, I guess.
But, you know, that was a really unfortunate decision.
And I think sometimes he's going to make those because he can count on his physical abilities
to thread the needle.
And sometimes he would rather take the chance
than throw the football away or take the checkdown.
Another thing that I'm going to be watching all season long
with drones at Virginia Tech is I don't really think
that his new offensive coordinator,
they got two new coordinators in Blacksburg.
I don't think Philip Montgomery's offense
is necessarily the best fit for Kyron drones
because his MO Montgomery is more accuracy, quick release,
which is not really drones.
his hallmark. Drones's hallmark is, again, dual threat capability, really attacking downfield.
He's got a rocket for an arm. So we'll have to see how much, I guess, Montgomery can sort of
adapt, you know, his playbook and his play calling to fit drones as strength. Didn't seem to go that
well against South Carolina. Maybe it goes better for him against Vanderbilt this week.
Well, talk to me about those receivers. Now, who's he throwing to? Now, I know Virginia
Tech had trouble adjusting against South Carolina. They never really did.
So talk to me about the weapons and how they're going to incorporate them moving forward.
So when you look at Virginia Tech's receiving core, you see a lot of size, a lot of physicality.
And they have three, if not four receivers who can go up and grab 50, 50 balls, which now that part of it, maybe not schematically,
maybe Drones is not the best fit for this offense.
But with his receiver personnel, I think it's a good fit because he can throw up those 50, 50 balls and his receivers can make plays.
So we're looking at the top guys for me are the Greens, no relation to one another.
Donovan Green, who's six foot three, Aidan Green, who's six foot two.
Isaiah Spencer, Cameron Selden are both over six foot.
They also have a tall, tight end, Benji Gossnell, who's six foot five.
So to me, if you're going up, and you are going up, of course, against this Virginia Tech offense,
I worry a little bit less about their running game this year than I did last year,
thankfully for Vanderbilt. Bayshall Tootin is not running through that tunnel this year.
But in terms of the passing game, that's an area where they can hurt you because if your
defensive backs aren't willing to play physical and match up with their length, Virginia Tech has a lot of size and a lot of ability.
Because these guys have some speed as well. These are not strictly possession receivers.
Both Donovan Green and Aden Green broke out some big plays with yards after the catch against South Carolina.
So to me, I would say the strength of Virginia Tech's offense would be, you know, the way,
the way Kyron drones can connect with these tall 6 foot two, 6 foot three physical receivers.
Now when you look at a quarterback matchup and receivers and the weapons and stuff like that,
Vanderbilt's bringing their own weapons as well.
They've got some receivers that have stepped up.
That was the biggest question mark coming into the season, but they've got some guys now that
I feel good about and I think Clark Lee feels good about.
but when you match up these two quarterbacks,
you look at the attributes,
you know, Pavia, year two of an offense
that he was already an expert at,
but year two of chemistry within this system
and with this team,
when you look at the quarterback matchup,
how do you see it just as a head-to-head
like Vanderbilt's offense,
Virginia Tech's offense,
from a production standpoint?
I would trust Pavia more in the sense
that I think certainly the floor is much higher for him being a veteran.
And the guy had, he's got an illegal injunction just to be able to play another year,
which I support him in that quest, by the way.
But I would feel like Pavia, who's also, he's got experience winning big games.
I mean, he did, of course, beat Virginia Tech head to head last year.
He also won a little old game against Alabama a year ago.
Something that's been noticeable about Virginia Tech these last couple of years is,
they've come really close at times to grabbing big wins or signature wins, but they always seem to fall short.
I mean, they, you know, they fell to Vanderbilt on the road in overtime last year.
They had a close loss to Rutgers that they really should have won.
They were controlling that game.
I mean, I was at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami for that crazy finish where they were, you know,
a controversial call on a Hail Mary away from upsetting Miami.
They played Clemson somewhat tight last year.
So, you know, Virginia Tech, and I'm not going to put it all on the quarterback,
that would be unfair of me.
But this version of Virginia Tech in general has just really failed to get over that hump
and get out of their own way.
And obviously the inconsistent quarterback play is part of that.
I just, I want to see Kyron drones just consistently reach his ceiling because I know what
he's capable of.
And, of course, on the flip side with Pavia, I mean, not only is he a veteran,
but the guy is an absolute gamer.
I mean, he rises to the occasion, puts his body on the line in close games.
So I, you know, I don't know.
I think I would just, to be safe, I'd probably give the slight quarterback edge to Vanderbilt
just because I have a better idea of what I'm going to get from Diego Pavia.
But I just want to hedge a little bit here, Corey, because if Chiron Drones does have a
magnificent game, I wouldn't be surprised by that either.
It's just a little less likely, given his history that we get.
that. Yeah, absolutely. And the potential is there because the talent is there. And we certainly
recognize that. Clark Lee recognizes that. I think we're going to talk about this in a little bit,
but he's going to build a defensive game plan to try to stifle that. But when I look at, and I've
said this on previous episodes, when I look at this quarterback matchup, I see a veteran guy that's
firmly entrenched in their identity. He's a great runner, great quarterback designed runner. I don't
I don't know that Kyron Jones is a great quarterback designed runner.
I don't think he's that type of player.
He's kind of more of a sit back, scramble, he wants to throw the ball down the field.
He wants to push it vertically.
So as a vertical threat quarterback, that scares me because they are so good at pushing the ball down the field
that really puts pressure on your corners.
It puts pressure on your secondary and it also puts pressure on your defensive front
to try to find ways to disrupt that rhythm.
So for the quarterback matchups, things like that,
I think for Vanderbilt, they're going to have to, again, control the ball.
They're going to have to try to eat up those chunk yardage, be a little bit more explosive
than they were last year in order to, if they get in front,
it will allow them to not allow Virginia Tech to get back into the game like they did a year ago.
Like they had that game almost sealed, but they had a few stumbling blocks in the third quarter.
Virginia Tech was able to get back in it, and then it became a dog fight after that.
So I think Vanderbilt has a chance to squash that early, and they had a chance to do that last year.
So, and I think with a veteran quarterback, that gives me a lot of confidence that they're going to do that.
So to me, it's, it's, Pavia has the edge, drones has the potential.
Drones could take over if you wanted to.
It just, it's like this, you know, it's like a roller coaster.
So it just, it just scares me.
But speaking of defenses, speaking of game plans, how do you stop these quarterbacks?
How is Virginia Tech going to plan to stop Pavia?
How is Brandenbilt going to plan to stop drones?
We're going to talk about that right after this.
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It's about redefining it because these moments do more than when.
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That's one I'm going to be talking about for a long time, Corey.
Absolutely, man.
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All right, thanks for making your,
thanks for making Locked on ACC.
Thanks for making Locked on ACC.
Thanks for making Locked on Cain's,
your first listen each every day.
Give a follow to all three of those shows.
Alex, those two of them.
I just do one.
Alex is the man.
I only hope to be as great as Alex Dono
doing those two shows.
But anyway, we talked about
the quarterback battle, right?
We talked about how special they are, how special the weapons are,
how just a veteran-laden team, experienced-laden team,
Venerable it is, how dynamic Virginia Tech can be.
Like something's got to give here.
But as a defense coordinator, when you stare across the field at Diego Pavia
and the weapons that they have, the now vertical threats that they had,
they did not have a year ago.
And yes, they played against Charleston Southern,
so things are going to be a little bit inflated as far as stats
and as far as the way things worked.
However, when you look at DeKovia in this Vanderbilt offense, how do you stop it?
I think I think some QB spy is going to be important, but I do think something, and I'm actually pretty bullish on Virginia Tech's defense.
I know that I have my concerns about on offense, consistency of the quarterback, the running game.
But on defense, I think Virginia Tech, I think the jury is still out on their linebackers, but I think their defensive line is really.
good and their defensive secondary, despite losing their top two corners from last year,
they're pretty excited about some of the players that they've added there.
Same thing with the defensive line, despite the fact that Antoine Powell Rylan and
Aeneas Peoples are no longer there.
They actually feel that their defensive line is deeper than it was a year ago, Corey.
And I think the good news for Virginia Tech for the one game resume that they have coming
into this matchup with Vandy is they did an admirable job against Lenore.
sellers in South Carolina.
Exactly.
They held.
Yeah, they did.
And they held them to 25 rushing yards,
209 passing yards.
Only they had one explosive play that was a big difference in the game,
a 64-yard bomb to Nick Harbor.
Other than that, Virginia Tech's secondary held up nicely.
They put pressure on, as you mentioned.
So honestly, I don't think that Virginia Tech is going to be intimidated
going up against Diego Pavia because I think they feel pretty comfortable
about the test that they just had against Lenora Sellers.
And, you know, Kelvin Gilliam and the interior of their defensive line is someone I'm
pretty excited about.
Camari Copeland, who's back there.
I'm pretty excited about as well.
Gilliam was in on the safety sack that they had against Lenora Sellers.
So honestly, I think this is one of those games where I think for Virginia Tech, I expect
a baseline of at least pretty good against Vanderbilt's offense.
I think this play maybe could be decided by a big player to buy Pavia on that side of the football for Vanderbilt.
But I think on defense, based on what we saw last year and in this year with some of the players they've had to replace,
I think Virginia Tech probably feels pretty confident on that side of the football.
Who matches up with Eli Stowers?
Take your pick.
It might be a number of guys, honestly.
Yeah, that's a tough deal for this defense because, like, when you're planning,
like Lenore Seller, they were still trying to find themselves, I think.
And that's what stuck out to me about South Carolina.
They were trying to, they were, it was like two boxers just kind of, just kind of jabbing
their way through the first three quarters.
And then they started landing haymakers and South Carolina just landed a couple more than
Virginia Tech did.
But with the aggressiveness of the calls, you have an obvious mismatch there with Eli Stowers.
Like, how aggressive do they get?
Because you get too aggressive.
I mean, Pavia is pretty slid.
pretty slick. He can get through there.
For any linebacker or safety,
that's a mismatch. Yeah.
I mean, and he's going to feast.
And we saw in the bowl game against Georgia Tech.
He was able to get up, you know,
get up the rail and, and, and,
moss somebody, actually. He lost a Georgia Tech
corner. He did, well, I mean, it's
Charleston Southern, so I can't get too excited,
but he was able to, he was able to get up the
sideline against Charleston Southern as well.
So they're not scared to push him
vertical because he has that running ability.
So that's going to be, like to me,
that's going to be the key matchup for Vanderbilt's offense versus defense is, hey, where is
Stowers, where is nine, you know, and find him because he is the, I'm not, I'm not directly comparing
him because I know the listeners will probably hear this one little part and hang on this,
but he is that style of tight in where it's like Kyle Pitts, Brock Bowers, like that style of
tight end to where it's more of like a wide receiver, but he's just got a little bit of size
and some physicality. He's a mismatch.
for people. Now, Brock Bowers is an alien, so I'm not comparing him to Brock Bowers.
He's a, he is not of this earth, right? He is something, he's an extraterrestrial because
he, that guy's a freak. So, um, but I think he's going to have that similar impact because
he can do a lot of different things. He can run out of the backfield. He could run jet sweeps.
He can, you know, run the shovel option. He can run bubbles. He can run vertically down the field,
crossing routes, post routes, dig routes, anything you want, anything in the route tree.
He's got it. And that's dangerous. And that makes him a nightmare.
But when I look at Virginia Tech's offense from a defensive perspective,
this is what I see.
And you can fill in the gaps as you wish.
All right.
I see a quarterback that wants to get the ball downfield.
He wants to stay in the pocket.
He wants to move around, but he doesn't really want to scramble.
So what I see is this.
You're not aggressively coming after him,
but you are trying to create that muddy, murky pocket.
to where when he steps up, he's not able to step into a throw.
You get some hits on him.
And this happened last year, I think as the game wore on,
especially the further you got into the fourth quarter,
they weren't necessarily sacking him a lot,
but they were getting to him.
They were getting some hits on him.
And he kind of wilted away a little bit.
He cramped up.
Like he left the game in overtime.
Yeah.
And I think it was the hits.
Yeah.
I think he was under such duress.
it's the same defense like not many people left and you got a dedicated defense
coordinator now with the support of Clark Lee I think it's going to be a super
super aggressive thing and you know for them I think if they can affect
kairn drones those downfield targets won't really they won't really be involved in the
game we and the concern that I would have from the Virginia tech side on offense
in terms of being good for Vanderbilt's defense is I I am not convinced
that Virginia Tech, I'll be convinced when I see it until then I'm not,
that they're going to be able to really establish a run game.
That's a big concern that I have this season,
not having a good enough replacement for Bayshalt-Tooten.
I mean, you bring in, you got running backs this year,
Terry and Stewart and Marcellus Hawkins.
I don't know if we're going to see enough to take that pressure off of Kyron drones.
Yeah, they're just okay.
And I think against a team that's really good up front that really spent
a lot of their transfer portal moves and a lot of NIL dollars in the trenches on the defensive
line, I think to be just okay in the run game, I don't think it's going to be good enough.
So it's going to be interesting to kind of see how they incorporate that.
Maybe they try to get the ball out quicker, but that, but again, I think if Vanderbilt
can force that, that's not Kyron Jones's a strong spot.
So I feel good about that.
And that's going to kind of, that's going to kind of mold my prediction here.
Speaking of predictions, we're going to get into those.
What's going to happen in this game?
Inter-Sandman's blasting, all that good stuff.
We're going to talk about that, though.
Next.
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Oh, get me a smash burger.
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Yeah, it was a good dinner.
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I'll save more every time I order these players delivered when it mattered most.
Let's break it down.
So for Vandy, Diego Pavia delivered in a big way.
There was a play in the, there was a play, I guess, early in the game.
It was getting things established.
It was actually a jet sweep, a jet read that he ended up giving.
but the defense collapsed on him and left the edge open.
And it was a way for them to kind of break through and just get the game started right.
And the pressure was on, man, Pavia just, he just came through.
No hesitation, no delay.
He just, boom, he just got it.
And if you've been watching week after week, this performance wasn't a flute.
Diego Pavia is on streak.
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All right, we're wrapping up this locked on college crossover.
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So Alex Dono, we're wrapping up the show here.
It's time to make some predictions.
Inter-Sandman's blasting.
What do you think?
You know, I think Brent Pry needs this win so badly because he is, we've talked about this a lot on Locked on ACC.
I think he's probably the ACC coach on the hottest seat this year, especially since Mike Norvell just got himself the type of win that cools your seat off quite a bit with that Florida State victory in Alabama.
Yeah, and you mentioned Enter Sandman, which of course is one of the great home field.
traditions there at Lane Stadium. There's something different about playing in Blacksburg at night.
You play there at noon or 3.30, you know, it's maybe, maybe not, not the greatest home field
advantage of the world, but there's something about when the sun goes down in Blacksburg.
I've been there a couple of times for games, and it's, it's just different. I'm going to pick
Virginia Tech to win this game. I'm going to say by a point. I'm going to say 24 to 23, but
It's contingent on a couple of factors, Corey,
because I want to make a couple things clear on my prediction.
And obviously, number one, I expect that environment to be rocking.
I don't think there's a lot separating these teams.
In fact, Virginia Tech is only a point and a half favorite at home,
which basically tells you it's kind of a pickum game,
or maybe Vanderbilt should be favorite if it was on a neutral site.
But it's not on a neutral site.
And then, you know, we know the conditions.
You know, Kyron Drones needs to keep it maybe just to one interception in this game.
or zero interceptions if we could be so greedy.
But here's my key for Virginia Tech.
No knuckle-headed special teams mistakes.
That program has come a long way from Beamer Ball,
where they used to block a punt or block a kick or return a punt for a touchdown in every game.
They gave up a punt return for a touchdown against South Carolina.
Not only did they give up a punt return touchdown,
that was actually a punt they had to kick for a second time
because they had a gunner lined up illegally.
which I don't think I've ever seen before.
The absolute worst.
So they've got to keep the special team's mistakes down,
but I think charged up by that home crowd,
maybe except for the mismatch of Eli Stowers.
I do think Virginia Tech's defense can make some noise in this one.
Sam Sefke's their defensive coordinator,
who's got NFL experience, I think was a good hire for them.
I can see Virginia Tech edging this one out,
but I think this is going to be a,
bloody defensive struggle for most of the game.
I think it's going to be really dicey and really close.
Yeah, I think it's going to be, I think you're exactly right.
I think this is going to be a line of scrimmage game.
And with Vanderbilt's rebuilt lines of scrimmage on both sides of the ball,
in the run game, especially on offense,
that offensive line is, they're a bunch of bulldozers.
I think that's where the game's going to be won.
And to me, I feel like Vanderbilt has the edge there.
They have the edge at quarterback.
And I think that's going to be the difference.
The contingent on the fact that they don't let inner sandman and the rage that goes with that bother them.
Because they, you know, I mean, they've played in Tiger Stadium.
They've played in all these SEC environments, you know, and all these raucous environments.
But like, it's still a different atmosphere, no matter how you slice it and dice it.
And it can get to you if you let it.
But I think, you know, and they've been blasted in inter Sandman all week.
long it practices. I mean, they, they treat it like Rocky Top around here.
Like they, you know, when you practice with Rocky Top, you know, you blare it all week because
that's all they play at Tennessee. And with Inter Sandman, like, we want them to hate
Inter Sandman before they walk in. So, so they hear that and they're just like, oh, that and just
get some fired up. So if they can, if they can manage that environment, if they can manage the
early onslaught, because this team's going to be juiced up. It's their home opener.
The crowd's going to be in a frenzy.
if they can withstand that, start fast and focused,
I think they end up winning this game.
Last year, obviously it was a home road game, essentially.
So they did have a little bit of crowd noise they had to contend with.
It was like stadium renovations or something last year.
Yeah, those are finished, by the way.
Yeah.
But I always say, I always say Vanderbilt plays 12 road games a year
because their home is home away from home.
So they play 12 road games a year, so they should be used to this kind of thing.
But they've let environments bother them in the past.
Like Georgia State, for a different reason,
I think it was probably just like too quiet.
It was just a weird environment, a weird game, and they lost it.
But they went to Auburn and beat Auburn,
and that's never an easy place to win.
You know, they started fast against LSU,
but they just wilted because they have no depth.
They have better depth this year.
So if they can withstand that hostile environment,
if they can withstand the inter-Sandman, the crowd that's like,
you know, going crazy and all that surrounding this game,
I think they're going to, I think they have the capability,
and I think they will end up controlling the line of scrimmage,
and I think they will find Eli Stowers early and often.
I think that match will be too much for Virginia Tech.
I think Kyron Jones is going to make his share of plays,
but it's not going to be enough.
Martel Haid is a great punt returner.
Maybe he takes one back on them.
That would be nice if they could get a big play in special teams.
And I think your score was 24, 23.
Yeah.
I say 20.
27 23
Vanderville
That's going to be my final there
I think I think
you're going to get Brock Taylor
The Brockett launcher
He's going to kick one
He's going to kick an insurance field goal
late in the fourth quarter
And they're going to ice it
That's how I see it going
So
I think we can agree
It's going to be close and it's going to be fun
It's going to be a fun way
It's going to be bloody
It's going to be physical
It's going to be an atmosphere
I can tell you that much
Well, Alex, thanks for joining me, man.
It's always a pleasure.
And anytime we can get a Vanderbilt versus ACC matchup,
you're my first call.
And we're going to run this thing back.
So for Alex Dono, make sure, locked on ACC, locked on Cains,
he's going to have a fun week.
Or he's already had a fun week.
You should join in on that.
Miami's going to have a special season.
I can feel it.
They get a big win like that.
I think that's going to catapult them.
And then, you know, Locked on Vandy for me, follow that at Locked on Vanda and all social media platforms.
Where can they follow you like on social, Alex?
Yeah, follow me on X at Alex Dono, Dono spelled D-O-N-N-O.
I'm also on, I try to use TikTok.
I'm 40, but I pretend I'm 20 and I go on TikTok.
I think it's at Alex Dono on TikTok and Instagram at Alex Dono, Miami.
Those are the best places to find me on social.
Absolutely. And at Locked on Vandy on all socials, at Coach Burton, 36 on X, if you want my personal account.
And we'll run it back.
We'll see what it's like Saturday.
And we'll come back with you with a reaction show one way or the other on the locked on Vandy side.
I don't know what you have coming up the rest of this week.
But regardless of what it is, check it out.
Do yourself a favor.
If you're missing out, you're truly missing out.
So for Alex Donald, I'm Corey Burton.
This has been a locked on college crossover.
We'll see you back here next time.
covering your team every day.
Thanks for listening.
Peace.
